Designated Survivor: Kiefer Sutherland Is Confident We'll Get a Season 3

It's April, which means many showrunners and actors with series on broadcast networks are biting their fingernails down to nubs right about now as the futures of their shows are up in the air.

But Kiefer Sutherland, who stars on ABC's Designated Survivor, thinks his show will be back for a third season. Speaking with DigitalSpy, Sutherland said, "Do I believe we're going to do a third season? Yes. Is that a guarantee? Not until, I think, May 15. So we'll see, we'll see." (May 15 is when ABC is announcing its 2018-2019 fall schedule.)

Normally this kind of comment wouldn't mean a whole lot, after all, it's the execs who make the decisions. But Sutherland has the star power that the network loves and connection to the show that most others don't have, meaning he's in a position to know more than the average person.

Sutherland's words are some comfort for Designated Survivor fans, as the show's Season 2 ratings (average of 0.75 rating in the 18-49 demo, 4.13 million viewers) have dropped severely from its first season (1.25 rating, 5.84 million viewers). And while DVR gains are still good percentage-wise, the gains are starting from a much lower point.

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The star also discussed the episode count, hinting that Designated Survivor could use a smaller episode count to increase its quality.

"We're still doing 22 episodes, while other shows are doing eight," he said. "So the stress on a writer who is doing 22 shows is gigantic compared to that of eight. And people are watching television on their schedule, mostly without advertising. So it's such a changing world right now."

Designated Survivor airs Wednesday nights at 10/9c on ABC.